Chinese social media giant TikTok could be in line for a massive EU fine because of concerns over the transparency of its online advertising content.
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Broken the Rules
The EU said it had provisionally concluded that TikTok has broken the rules of its Digital Services Act which requires online media platforms to have what is known as a publicly searchable ad-library. This enables better detection of scams or disinformation campaigns especially ahead of major events such as elections.
If these early conclusions are confirmed then TikTok could face a fine worth up to 6% of its global turnover.
“Transparency in online advertising, who pays and how audiences are targeted, is essential to safeguarding the public interest,” said the European Commission’s technology chief Henna Virkkunen.
TikTok responded by stating that it remained committed to meeting its obligations under the Digital Services Act. It said that it disagreed with some of the Commission’s “interpretations.”
It adds to the pressure on the ByteDance-owned firm following a $600 million fine handed to it by Irish authorities earlier this month for sending personal data of Europeans to China.
Under Pressure
It found that TikTok had failed to ensure that the data was shielded from access by Chinese authorities. It has been told to bring its processes into compliance with EU Data regulations within six months. If not, it will suspend TikTok’s transfers to China. TikTok is planning to appeal against the decision.
It is also under fire in the U.S. where last year the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest control of TikTok in the United States or be banned from the country.
President Donald Trump has twice postponed, until June 19, the deadline set for the sale of the social network, which has 170 million American users.
Blue-chip names such as Amazon (AMZN) and Oracle (ORCL) have been touted as potential bidders.
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